The Holiday Armadillo
by BurnThoseEyesBlue
Summary: "There's another Santa?" Raph asked incredulously. Mikey squealed with delight. "No, not another Santa," Leo said. He shot a pleading look at Donnie that said HELP ME. "It's the..." "Holiday Armadillo!" Donnie burst out. Raph smacked a hand over his eyes. *2k15 SECRET SANTA GIFT FOR SAVANNAHSDRABBLES*


**Merry Christmas, everyone! This is my 2k15 TMNT Secret Santa gift from Tumblr for savannahsdrabbles! I hope you like it, and I'm really glad I got to know you over the last few weeks! :) I know you were my secret Santa, and I was yours! How cool is that?! :D**

* * *

"Leoooooo! Donnieeeeee! Rapppphhhhiiieeee!" Mikey's squeals echoed down the hallway. The 9-year old skidded into the living room, where his brothers were all playing with their limited supply of toy cars.

Leo looked up, and Raph drove his truck into Leo's little car, sending it flying. Leo scowled at Raph, who grinned evilly back. Donnie rolled his eyes at his brothers' antics and looked up at Mikey.

"Do you wanna play too?" Donnie asked kindly. "Or maybe something else instead?" He wrinkled his beak up at his now wrestling older brothers.

Mikey bounced down in front of Donnie. "Today's Christmas Eve," he exclaimed.

Donnie shrugged. "Yeah, and?"

Mikey beamed. "That means that Santa's coming tonight!"

Immediately, Leo and Raph froze. They shoved each other off of themselves and pushed themselves up. They both met hesitant eye contact with Donnie.

"But Santa couldn't come last year because of the storm," Leo said slowly.

"Or the year before," Raph added. Last year, it had been an extremely hard winter for the Hamato family; all of the tots were sick due to the extreme cold, and Splinter didn't have time to go up to the surface to find presents for fear of something happening while he was gone. Splinter told the older three the truth about Santa, but couldn't bear to break the news to his youngest son.

"I know," Mikey said, rolling his eyes like his older brothers were stupid. "But maybe he can come this year!"

Donnie frowned a little. "I don't know, Mikey. I think it's too hard for Santa's sleigh to get down into the sewers."

"And he's a human," Leo chimed in. "Sensei said we're not supposed to trust humans."

Mikey's eyes grew big and sad. "But I've been good this year!"

Raph snorted. "Just yesterday you hit Dad with a water balloon."

"But I was aiming for Leo, not Dad." Mikey retorted. "It's not fair! I want to celebrate Christmas, too! Humans have LIGHTS that they put on a TREE! And the tree is inside their house! And, they put presents under it! That are wrapped in whatever color you want! And you can go ice-skating and drink hot chocolate and sing songs!"

Donnie sighed. "Sorry, Mikey, but we can't. You know that. We're not like them aboveground."

Mikey's eyes welled up with tears. "But it's not fair," he sniffled.

Leo looked at Donnie with a look of panic on his face. Raph squirmed slightly with the burden of the truth about Santa.

"You know, Santa can't come this year, but..." Leo began. Raph shot him a warning look as Mikey looked up again, hope in his eyes. "Maybe someone else can come."

"There's another Santa?" Raph asked incredulously. Mikey squealed with delight.

"No, not another Santa," Leo said. He shot a pleading look at Donnie that said HELP ME. "It's the..."

"Holiday armadillo!" Donnie burst out. Raph smacked a hand over his eyes.

"Armadillo?!" Mikey squealed. He bounced up onto his feet. "Does he bring presents?!"

"Of course," Donnie scoffed.

"Donnie," Leo hissed. "Shut up. You're making it worse." Raph glared from beside Leo, for once in agreement.

"I'm gonna go tell Dad about the holiday armadillo!" Mikey exclaimed. He crashed into Donnie and gave him a hug. "Thanks, bro!" Mikey scampered off towards their father's dojo.

"DONNIE!" Leo and Raph both towered over Donnie.

"How could you do that?" Leo asked. "You know how hard it is for Sensei to get food this time of year, much less toys."

"Armadillo?" Raph sneered.

"Okay, well you try to come up with an animal off the top of your head, Raph," Donnie snapped. "At least I wasn't about to tell him Santa wasn't real!" He gave a pointed look at Leo.

"I didn't know what else to do!" Leo said. "He'll have to learn the truth at some point."

"Donatello," the three squabbling turtles looked up to see their father approaching, Mikey bouncing up and down behind him. "Michelangelo has asked me all about the holiday armadillo." Donnie grinned sheepishly, and Splinter raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you explain further, hmm?"

"Well, armadillos eat bugs," Donnie said slowly, racking his brain for any stray facts about armadillos. "So if you leave him algae and worms he'll be happy. He doesn't need milk and cookies like Santa."

"Hey, we have algae and worms!" Mikey exclaimed, tugging on his father's sleeve.

"And armadillos live underground in little houses called burrows, so he won't have to get up in the snowstorm like Santa." Donnie continued.

"We live underground!" Mikey gasped with delight.

"I believe you are forgetting the most important part, Donatello." Splinter said. Donnie shrunk down even further.

"Which is?" He said weakly.

"PRESENTS!" Mikey sang out. "Does the Holiday Armadillo bring presents?"

"Yeah, Donnie, does the armadillo bring presents?" Raph muttered sarcastically. Leo elbowed him in the side.

"Yes?" Donnie squeaked out. Splinter sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Mikey beamed.

"Wrong answer," Raph whispered.

"Do you just want me to keep elbowing you?" Leo said.

"Sensei, can I go draw a picture for the Holiday Armadillo?" Mikey asked.

"I'm sure that he would appreciate that very much, Michelangelo." Mikey ran off toward his room, blabbering about what different colors to use and what to draw. "Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael, may I speak with you?"

"Sensei, it's all Donnie's fault," Raph said, trying to throw Donnie under the bus.

"Hey! I didn't see you doing anything to stop Mikey from getting upset!" Donnie argued. "At least I didn't try to tell him the truth about Santa, like Leo!"

"You're seriously bringing that up again?" Leo said.

"Enough." Splinter hit his cane down on the floor, and the three boys straightened up and went quiet. "Donatello, pray tell me why you filled your little brother's head with these such delusions about Christmas Armadillos?"

"It's actually the Holiday Armadillo. Not Christmas." Raph muttered. Leo shoved him to the side.

"You should've seen him, Sensei! He was so sad that Santa wasn't gonna come this year! I didn't know what else to tell him!" Donnie said.

"Are we going to have to tell him the truth, Sensei?" Leo asked quietly. Splinter pondered this for a moment.

"No," he said. "You're not. However, I am putting you three in charge of this year's visit of the Holiday Armadillo."

"You mean, we're gonna have to dress up as a giant armadillo?" Raph asked, scowling. "Nice going, Donnie! We don't even have gifts for Mikey!"

"Well, I do have my Christmas gift for him I can give?" Leo said, frowning in thought.

"How are we gonna dress up?" Raph asked. "It's not like any of us have an armadillo costume lying around."

Splinter smiled to himself and stepped away from his sons. His three eldest were too busy trying to come up with a plan to realize that he had left.

He smirked. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

"Donnie, are you sure this is gonna work?" Leo asked hesitantly. He was working on color two large gray triangles on a scrap piece of paper.

Donnie shrugged. "Of course." Leo shot him a pointed look. "Well, maybe not, but it's the best idea we came up with." Leo sighed, but he began to cut the triangles out.

"Okay, guys, I got it!" Raph ran into Leo's room and shut the door behind him. He dropped the grey wool blanket and the tape he was carrying on the ground.

Leo picked up the triangles and held them to the side of his head. "Will you tape my ears on?" Donnie picked up the tape, put a square on each triangle, and pressed them to the top of Leo's head. Leo shook his head, and when the ears didn't fall off, looked up satisfied.

"Here," Donnie unfolded the blanket and tucked it around Leo's shoulders. "Do you think we should tape it on, too?"

Raph grabbed the tape dispenser and pulled out a too-long piece. He awkwardly pulled the blanket over his brother's shoulders and taped the edge down to his plastron.

"Donnie, do you have the presents?" Leo asked, extending the blanket so it was cocooned his shell. Donnie held up Splinter's scavenging bag, which was bulging with makeshift gifts.

"I think we're set," Donnie said proudly. Leo and Raph exchanged hi-three's.

"Now we just gotta wait for Mikey to go to bed."

"That won't take long at all."

* * *

4 Hours Later

* * *

"And, and I left out a big heaping of worms and algae for the Holiday Armadillo! And I drew a picture for him! Look, Leo, there's you, there's me, there's Donnie, and there's Dad!" Mikey shoved the drawing in his oldest brother's face.

Leo lifted his head up and yawned. "Where's Raph?" He asked sleepily.

"Well, Raphie snitched on me and told Dad I was the one who hit him with the water balloon, so I don't think the Holiday Armadillo will bring him anything." Mikey said, looking at the picture. "Wait, do you think that the Holiday Armadillo won't bring me anything if I don't include him?" Mikey's eyes grew wide. "I gotta go add Raphie!" He ran off to go get his crayons again.

Leo groaned and let his head thunk onto the kitchen table. Donnie walked in to the kitchen and slumped down next to Leo, looking just as tired and Leo felt. Raph stumbled in and promptly fell asleep as soon as his head touched the table.

"Is Mikey still awake?" Donnie asked, stifling a yawn. Leo nodded, and Donnie groaned. "Raph's gonna be really grumpy in the morning now." His other brother drooled a little.

"Raph's grumpy anyway."

"You know what I mean."

Mikey dashed back into the kitchen. "I added Raphie! Oh hey, Donnie, Raphie. Look at my drawing! There's Leo, there's me, there's you, and there's Raph, even though I had to draw him super small to make room. Oh and there's Sensei-"

"My sons," Master Splinter strode into the room. He took in the three older tots trying to stay awake unsuccessfully and then his youngest bouncing off the walls.

"We're waiting up for the Holiday Armadillo!" Mikey said. "Look, here's my picture!"

Splinter ooh-ed and ahh-ed. "Michelangelo, you know the Holiday Armadillo won't come until everyone's asleep, correct? In fact, if you do not go to sleep soon, he may not come at all."

Mikey slowly stopped bouncing. "He won't?" Splinter shook his head. Mikey took on a look of panic. "Guys! We gotta go to bed!" He placed his drawing on the table next to the algae and worms and gave his brothers a quick kiss on the sides of their cheeks.

'Night, Mikey." Leo yawned. Mikey dashed from the room. He slammed his bedroom door shut. Raph jerked awake at the bang, wiping the drool off his chin and scowling.

"My sons, I think it is time for you to do the Holiday Armadillo now. I will make sure Michelangelo is occupied until he falls asleep." Splinter said. He turned an walked out of the room.

"Yes, Sensei," Donnie and Leo said. Raph blinked blearily.

"Here, Leo." Donnie pulled out the makeshift armadillo ears and blanket from underneath the table. The turtles clumsily rearranged themselves, taping ears and blankets back on.

"Raph, are you ready?" Donnie asked. Raph nodded and bent down. Donnie jumped onto his back, and while Raph stumbled a little, successfully remained standing. "Leo?"

Raph swiveled around to face his older brother and Donnie almost fell off. He let out a squeak. Leo looked up from where he was shoveling algae and worms in his mouth.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm ready." Leo said around a mouthful. A worm fell out of his mouth, and Raph wrinkled up his nose.

Leo dragged his chair over to Raph and stepped up onto Raph's shoulder. Donnie held onto Raph's carapace even tighter as Leo used his arm to push himself up onto Donnie's shoulders. Raph grunted with exertion and the weight of his two brothers. Leo on top extended the gray blanket down his shoulders to cover the three turtles shells. Raph kicked up the bag of gifts from underneath the table, and Donnie grabbed it.

"Let's go," Leo ordered. Raph took a wobbly step, then another, then another, until he had made it into the living room. He stumbled in front of their makeshift Christmas tree, panting with exertion.

"Raphie, are you okay?" Leo whispered.

"I'm fine," Raph snapped back. "Let's just get this over with! Donnie, come on!"

Donnie, put the bag on top of Raph's head and pulled out the presents one by one. He passed them down to Raph, who then kicked them under the tree.

"Careful," Leo hissed. "These could be breakable."

"Yeah, wouldn't it be a pity if that toy dinosaur you got for Donnie broke?" Raph muttered, kicking the next gift even harder.

Donnie craned his neck back as far as possible to look at Leo. "You got me a dinosaur toy? I love dinosaurs!" Leo opened his mouth to reply when a large creak echoed throughout the lair. The boys stiffened.

"Guys," Donnie said. He immediately took the bag and dumped it upside down, scattering the remaining presents on the ground.

"RUN!" Leo hissed, and Raph took off, running surprisingly fast for a kid who was carrying his two brothers on his back.

Raph ran into the closest room he could get to: Donnie's. He toppled over as he slammed the door, and the boys landed in a tangled up pile on the floor.

Raph sprawled back and closed his eyes, laying his head against Leo's plastron. Donnie shifted so he was lying on Raph's legs, and Leo sat up against Donnie's bed.

"You think we got everything?" Leo whispered. Donnie looked up and shrugged. Raph let out a little snore and snuggled deeper into Leo's lap.

"I hope so." Donnie said. He pointed up at Leo's face. "You only have one ear left, though." Leo felt up and took the one off.

"Where did it go?" Leo asked, looking around beside him.

"It probably fell off outside. Just get it in the morning." Donnie tugged the blanket off of Leo's shoulders and threw it over his legs. "I'm going to bed." He snuggled down, too, and soon his snores joined Raph's.

"Guys," Leo whispered. "Guys, wake up. I wanna go get into my bed." He shook Raph's shoulders, and Raph batted him away. He called out again, but neither of his little brothers responded. Leo rolled his eyes. He grabbed Donnie's pillow from his bed, put it on the floor, and flopped down. He closed his eyes, and soon he was dreaming about walking, talking armadillos dancing with sugarplums alongside his brothers.

* * *

"Goodnight, Michelangelo." Splinter pressed a kiss to his finally sleeping son and snuck out of his bedroom. He'd heard a loud bang while in the third time reading "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" and walked into the living room.

It looked like there had been a bomb of presents that had exploded all over the floor. Splinter sighed. _Kids_. He straightened them up, stacking presents underneath the tree and sorting them based on turtle. He smiled, as the largest stack of gifts were to be given to Michelangelo.

Splinter tiptoed into Donatello's room, and he could feel his heart swell with pride. He pulled the blanket off of Donatello's bed and tucked it around the turtles. He placed his hand on Raphael's forehead, only lifting it when he began to stir.

Splinter turned and walked back to the door. He looked back over his shoulder. "Good night, my sons. I am very proud of you."

* * *

"Leo! Leo, wake up! The Holiday Armadillo came! He actually came!" Leonardo jolted upright. Mikey was shaking his arm excitedly, and Leo felt like he was going to rip it off. "Come on, come on! We gotta go open presents!"

Donnie was already up and rubbing his eyes, but Raph was still curled up against and cuddling Leo's leg. Mikey jumped on Raph's shell, and Raph lunged up, sending Mikey toppling.

"I gotta go wake Sensei up!" Mikey ran from the room, yelling for his father to wake up. Raph pushed the blankets off of himself and scowled.

"Couldn't he have let us sleep in?"

Donnie met Leo's gaze and smirked. "Told ya he'd be grumpy."

"I am not!" Raph protested, rubbing his eyes blearily.

"Are too!"

"Am NOT!"

"Hey!" Mikey stuck his head into the room. "Sensei's already up! Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

His brothers all got to their feet and stumbled down into the lair. Mikey was rooting around in his present pile. Splinter looked over at them from where he was standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Good morning, my sons." He received a chorus of sleepy "mornins" in return.

"Master Splinter, can we open gifts now?" Mikey asked hopefully.

"You may each open one," Splinter said. "By then your breakfast will be ready."

Mikey beamed and grabbed a flat present off of the top of his nearest pile. Raph grabbed the biggest box in his, Donnie a lumpy shaped toy, and Leo a small box. Each turtle tore into his gift.

Raph's opened up to be an aquarium, which was new except for the one long crack on the side. "Hey, I can use this for Spike!" Raph beamed. "Thanks, Sensei!"

Leo unwrapped his neatly, revealing several DVD set cases of some show called _Space_ _Heroes_. He read the back of the first season, and his eyes lit up with interest. "Guys, check this out! It's about a space ship led by this man named Captain Ryan!" Leo immediately dashed over to the TV and worked to set up the first episode.

"Thanks, Leo!" Donnie had pulled out his toy that Raph had not so subtly hinted at the night before. "It's a Brontosaurus. They have long necks and long tails that are like whips! They're also-" Raph put a hand over his mouth, effectively silencing the mini lecture.

Mikey waggled his paper at Donnie. "Thanks, bro! I'll definitely be using this!"

Donnie frowned. "What are you talking about? What is that?"

"This here is one coupon for a Fix-All from Donnie. Next time you break something, give this to Donnie, and he'll immediately get started on it." Mikey read off.

Donnie's jaw dropped. "That's not from me!"

Raph snickered. "That's from me. Thanks, Donnie."

"I love it!" Mikey said. He looked up at his brothers with shining eyes. "Merry Christmas, bros!"

"Merry Christmas, Mikey."

* * *

 **Later That Afternoon:**

* * *

Mikey was cleaning up all of the wrapping paper he'd thrown everywhere, when he found a small gray triangle on the floor. "Hey Leo, what's this?"

Leo looked over his shoulder from where he was watching his new Space Heroes show. When his eyes landed on the triangle, his face took on a look of panic and he lunged across the room to snatch it from Mikey.

"Nope!"

* * *

 **I hope you liked it! I had a lot of fun writing it, too! I know you like turtle tots ( & draw them a lot), but I also tried to put in some of the stuff we learned about each other in it! **

**For example, I put the Holiday Armadillo in as a nod to the fact that we both watch FRIENDS! And how cuddly Raph is with Leo is another one of your headcanons I found adorable! Donnie getting dinosaurs as a gift is to the fact that you said you liked how Donnie would fangirl over them in the 2k3 series! And Donnie is the one who came up with the armadillo idea because you said your favorite thing about him is his kindness and the fact that he is sweet and cares about his brothers and their feelings. :)**

 **I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and enjoyed this! & also a Happy New Year!**


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